Photos show woman identified as Ashley Dupre at 'Girls Gone Wild' party

A Sentinel Staff Report

Photos of a woman that "Girls Gone Wild" founder identified as call girl Ashley Alexandra Dupre dancing and baring her breasts at a party surfaced today in the Orlando Sentinel archives.

The photos were taken in 2003 for a newspaper article, long before Dupre was named last week as the prostitute involved with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

"Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis was planning to offer Dupre $1 million to appear in a non-nude photo spread in his new magazine. But earlier today, Francis said company employees realized they already had revealing footage of the alleged hooker from the 2003 party in Miami.

Orlando Sentinel photographer Roberto Gonzalez was on assignment at the same party, working with a reporter on an article about the "Girls Gone Wild" video series. But it wasn't until Gonzalez saw a news report today that he realized he had photos from the event.

The woman that "Girls Gone Wild" says is Dupre gave the name Amber Arpaio to the Orlando Sentinel and said she was 21. Gonzalez found the photos in Sentinel archives.

Gonzalez said the "Girls Gone Wild" videographer was shooting over his shoulder in video footage that AP showed today from the 2003 party. The AP quoted Francis saying the woman in the video was Dupre.

A "Girls Gone Wild" press release said Dupre was visiting Miami celebrate her 18th birthday. She and a friend fought, and Dupre got thrown out of her hotel, but she eventually found a nearby "Girls Gone Wild" bus, the company said.

She signed legal papers, the company said, and spent a week with "Girls Gone Wild," making seven full-length tapes that included nudity and same-sex encounters.

"I personally ended up buying her a Greyhound bus ticket back home to North Carolina," Francis told the Associated Press.

Francis was sentenced recently to time served and fines in Florida in a case involving filming girls who were under age. He still faces federal trial on tax evasion charges, which could result in up to 10 years in prison.

Dupre's public profile has skyrocketed since Spitzer resigned over the prostitution scandal. He was accused of spending tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, including in February with a call girl named "Kristen," who has been identified as Dupre.

In a statement Wednesday, Francis said he had received an e-mail from Dupre's attorney Don D. Buchwald saying Dupre may have been 17 in the videos shot in Miami and not 18 as Francis had first claimed.

On Thursday, The Associated Press reported that Dupre's lawyer said Dupre was 17 when the footage was filmed. Now the company says the video's Internet release will be delayed.

"All nude images of Ms. Dupre were taken in public places and contain no sexual contact. In Florida, where Ms. Dupre was filmed, the law allows even women under the age of 18 to be filmed nude with their consent," Francis said.

He added that "Girls Gone Wild" has a "corporate policy" not to use individuals under the age of 18 in their videos. Given this policy, the company delayed the release of Dupre's footage on the internet, Francis said.

The company was "investigating the matter" and "will make our decision shortly," Francis said.